


What We'll Do For Family

by abyss1826



Series: Despite The Space Between Us, The Universe Can't Tear Us apart [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Pre-Canon, Road Trips, Tags will be updated as needed, how they met story, sibling relationships, teenage colleen and sam
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-20
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-10-08 07:25:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10381569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abyss1826/pseuds/abyss1826
Summary: All the Holts wanted to do was take a summer road trip to check out some college campuses, help their incoming juniors Sam and Jennifer out a little. But their car is old, and engines don't last forever. Luckily the mechanic in the small southern Indiana town they find themselves in has a friendly family, with two girls each the ages of their three eldest.It's a road trip Sam will never forget, and a summer that Colleen will cherish forever.





	1. Are Faulty Engines Tools of Fate?

“Honey the engine is making that noise again,” Mrs. Holt said, putting her book down and looking at her husband. 

“It’s fine,” he replied, gripping the steering wheel harder than necessary.

“We’re driving through a cornfield in a car older than David I don’t really think this is going to be fine,” Sam whispered, leaning over to his twin sister Jennifer.

“It is  _ not _ older than me,” David whispered from the bench seat behind them. 

“It’s like 12, so are you, it’s older,” Jennifer remarked.

“I am  _ fourteen. _ ”

“Shit he’s a freshman now even worse,” Their older brother Jake, 18, sitting next to David, remarked. David hit him with his pillow.

“Hey,” their dad barked, looking at the five of them through the mirror, “No roughhousing in the car.”

David smugly pushed up his glasses. The twins rolled their eyes and turned back to face the front. 

“We are pulling over in the next town and finding a mechanic,” their mother stated sternly.

“We don’t need-”

“Michael I will not road trip in a vehicle that sounds like it’s about to break down any second,” she yelled over him.

_ Elizabeth’s put her foot down with this one,  _ Jake texted on the siblings’ group chat.

_ Rest In Fucking Pieces Michael  _ Jennifer responded.

_ I vote for having his funeral pyre in one of the cornfield/windfarms back a few miles _ David typed.

_ Why???? _ Jake asked.

_ Aesthetic. _

_ That southern Illinois gothic feel when all you can hear are windmills and all you can see is corn _ Sam added. Jake snorted behind him.

“What are you kids doing back there?” Their dad asked.

“Nothing,” the four of them answered in unison. It only made them seem more suspicious. Their mother sighed, putting the address of the nearest mechanics shop into the gps. Michael knew better than to protest. Eventually they pulled up to an old concrete garage, a little bit passed a town down a dirt and gravel road. The road split off to go behind the garage, leading to some forest. Sam could see an old white farmhouse with peeling paint and a barn through the trees. A man around his parent’s age came out from under a pickup truck. He wore grease stained overalls and a white t-shirt and had a short blond beard.

“You lookin’ for directions?” he asked.

“No, there’s something wrong with our engine,” their mom said through the window.

“Well I’m sure that’s something I can help you with!” Their dad parked the car and everyone stumbled out. “Kevin Callaghan,” the man introduced, shaking the parents’ hands. Sam looked past the adults into the garage. One of the doors was open, but three more were shut. It looked organized, but not neat, like when he knew where everything in his room was but his mom insisted that he hadn’t cleaned it. 

A girl with cotton candy pixie cut hair under a red beanie poked her head around the corner, looked at him, and then looked behind her. She walked out of the garage with another girl in tow. They were clearly sisters, probably not far in age. They stood behind Kevin until he introduced them both as his daughters, Christina and Colleen. Christina was the older sister, with light brown hair down her back, the tips dyed the same color as her sister’s hair. She wore a faded red t-shirt, shorts and sneakers. Her hair was held back with a yellow headband. Colleen also wore a pair of shorts, rolled up to a length that would not pass a school’s dress code, a black tank top, and had a green and red plaid button down tied around her waist. She had a cute face, and pretty brown eyes. Sam’s mom introduced them all as well, and Kevin suggested that his girls show them around town or the farm so they had something to do while he was talking to the Holts.

“Hey,” Colleen said as the group of teenagers walked away from their parents. “So where’re you guys here from?”

“Chicago,” Jake answered.

“Oh neat, our dad’s from there,” Christina said.

“Cool.”

“Where were you going before your engine went weird?” Colleen asked.

“Jennifer and I are going to be juniors, so our parents are taking us all on a road trip to visit colleges outside of the city,” Sam told her. 

“What do you guys want to do?”

“I’m going to med school,” Jennifer stated. “Hopefully Pritzker in the city but there are other places too.”

“I want to work for NASA, so Harvard or Northwestern for me.”

“Wow. You guys are… really ambitious,” Christina remarked.

“What year are you in?” Jake asked.

“I just graduated.”

“Oh! Me too, where are you going then?”

“I don’t know what I want to do yet, so there’s not really any point to wasting money on school.”

“Well what do you do then?”

“Mostly home stuff, sometimes I do a shift at one of the Cafe’s in town if someone's sick. I live at home though so it’s not like I have to pay rent.”

“True.”

“What about you?”

“I’m going into criminology so I can be a cop.”

“Neat.” They began walking through the trees until they got to an old wooden fence. Colleen opened it.

“So is this like, a farm?” David asked.

“Was,” Christina asked. “We don’t have as much land as there was when our mom’s family first moved west, and our grandparents decided to stop growing for cash and sold a lot of land to our neighbors.”

“Now we farm for ourselves,” Colleen stated. 

“Neat.”

A woman was standing on the porch, where there was a small round table and chairs. She wore a light blue button down shirt tucked into her jeans, and her brown hair was in a high bun with a carved wooden pin sticking out of it. 

“Visitors?” the woman asked.

“Car problems,” Colleen stated. The woman nodded.

“Well you’re welcome to come inside while your parents talk to Kevin, if you like,” she said with a warm smile. “I’m Delilah Miller, his wife, but just call me Delilah.” The Holts looked at each other, unsure if it was alright to just. Waltz into someone’s house like this. The three youngest stared at Jake. He just shrugged and shook his head, continuing to follow the sisters since there wasn’t much else to do. They all thanked Delilah as they filed in through the door.

The living room was filled with old furniture. A large red brick fireplace flanked by built-in shelving stood opposite of the staircase in front of the door, and every area of wall seemed to be covered in framed photographs, most of which were in black and white. 

And the house smelled amazing. 

An old woman in a vintage looking floral dress and apron backed into the hallway, silver hair kept back in a braid. Judging by her oven mitts, Sam assumed she was baking, which explained the smell.

“New kids?” she asked.

“Their parents are with Kevin,” Delilah explained. “Is Dad still out with the sheep?”

“Yes, then he’s going to check on the bees,” She answered, walking back into the kitchen, out of sight.

“We were gonna go walk over to town,” Christina said, “Dad suggested showing them around, since engine problems can take a while.”

“You do that then, take some water with you and stay in the shade, it’s hot out.”

“Will do,” she went into the kitchen also, they could hear her rummaging in the cabinets. 

“Well,” Delilah started, “I need to weed the garden, so if any of you need anything just shout.”

“Will do,” Colleen answered as her sister got back with a large plastic water bottle and a wide-brimmed straw hat. They walked back out the door again.

“You keep bees?” Jennifer asked.

“And sheep?” Sam continued.

“Yeah?” Colleen answered. “We have two cows and some chickens too.”

“Wild,” David muttered.

“So… what’s it like living in the middle of nothing?” Sam asked, walking next to Colleen.

“I don’t know,” She replied, “What’s it like living in the middle of everything?”

“Busy,” Jennifer answered.

“Loud,” David said.

“Smells like chemicals,” Jake replied.

“Ugh, yeah,” Christina said, “That’s what I hate about visiting family, our aunts live in Chicago and our dads got a brother there too, smells awful. Hardly any trees.”

“Everything’s really close though,” Colleen admitted.

“Yeah, we’ve gotta drive forever to actually get anywhere all the way out here.”

“It’s quiet though, good if you don’t like change,” The younger sister said in a tone of voice Sam took as saying that she would very much appreciate some change for once.

“And you can just wander around the woods and find weird shit.”

“Listen to alien conspiracies.”

“When I was a lad we had  _ four _ cows,” Christina said, imitating an old man, “One died but the other? Disappeared. Couldn’ta been stolen, just gone, just like-” she snapped her fingers “-that. Spent weeks lookin’ for her. Not a trace.”

“You believe in aliens?” Jennifer asked, glancing at the huge dorky grin on her twins face.

“Well yeah,” Colleen sighed, “Seems pretty closed-minded to assume we’re the only planet with intelligent life. Also the government? Pretty shady. Never know what shit they’re hiding.”

“Ever deal with crop circles?” Sam asked. His siblings rolled their eyes.

“Well, those are easily faked so I don’t really take them seriously.”

“How far of a walk is town anyway? We drove through it on our way here,” David said.

“‘Bout a half an hour walk, not long,” Christina answered, adjusting the brim of her hat. They had been walking along the side of the dirt road for a while now. The Holts felt like they were hiking at a campsite. It was neat. The sound of cicadas and birds was a deafening white noise background to their conversation. 

“Alright.”

“Better than just sitting in the car,” Jake remarked.

“Better than just walking around a rest stop too,” Jennifer agreed.

“Ugh, rest stops are gross,” David shuddered. 

“Depends, there's that one that looked like a garden, remember?” Sam said.

“Okay but that doesn’t make up for all the ones that smell worse than sewage and look like breeding grounds for the plague,” the boy deadpanned.

“Why are you so dramatic?”

“Theater kids,” Jake sighed. Colleen snorted. 

“Do either of you do theater?” David asked hopefully.

“No, we have a local theater, but aside from some funding we aren’t really involved in it.”

“Oh.” 

“Hey look it’s the cemetery,” she pointed out. 

“Time for ghosts!” Christina cheered.

“You guys have ghosts?” Jake asked.

“Probably. Any place as old as this is gonna accumulate some kind of energy.”

“You guys are… really superstitious,” Jennifer remarked.

“Eh, not really the same thing,” Colleen replied. “Some people in town certainly are, but they’re pretty old school, God fearing people who think Satan could be around any corner,” she giggled. Christina snorted.

“The only black cats in town are ours,” the older sister stated.

“You have cats?”

“Two, they’re outdoors mostly but we’ve got collars on them with little bells and they always come inside for dinner.”

“You keep them from getting fleas right?” David asked with a frown.

“Yup. Gel stuff on the back of the neck where they can’t lick once a month keeps ‘em off good. We gotta brush them a lot though to keep their fur from matting.”

“What about the chickens though?” Sam asked.

“They’ve never gone near the chickens. They don’t need to hunt to eat, they just kill field mice to bring to us because they think we can’t hunt,” Colleen laughed.

“Besides our cats know better than to piss off a bunch of hens,” Christina added, giggling.

“True.”

“Do you have any other pets?”

“We have a Border Collie Maggy and German Shepherd Ana.”

“Where are they?” David asked excitedly. 

“With the sheep.” Christina answered.

“They’re shepherds David,” Jake teased, “Where else would they be?” David glared at him.

“Jake, be nice to your brother,” Jennifer scolded, imitating their mom’s voice. 

“You’re not the boss of me I’m an adult now,” Jake sassed back.

“Don’t you speak to your mother in that tone of voice!” Sam backed.

“And as long as your under my roof you’re under  _ my _ rules young man!” Jennifer added.

“Ugh, I  _ hate _ this family!” Jake yelled dramatically, throwing his head back and turning around to stomp off behind the group. There was a few beats of silence before he jogged back to them. The Holts all looked at each other before bursting into a round of stifled laughter.

“Damn.” Christina commented.

“Y’all’re a fuckin’ sitcom,” Colleen added.

“Best siblings always are!” Jake sang, grabbing Sam around the shoulders and ruffling his hair rougher than was really necessary, laughing when the boy yelled and elbowed him in the stomach to get free.

“Wild,” Christina stated, taking a drink of water.

“So how much farther to the town?” Jennifer asked.

“Well the church isn’t far over that next hill, so we’re close. Why, you tired a walking?”

“No, I was just wondering.”

“So what is there in town?” David asked.

“We’ve got an Inn, a general store, a store for farming equipment, a couple pubs, town hall, the school, a couple of diners, a gift shop, that’s most of it.”

“You don’t have a library?” Sam asked, surprised.”

“It’s part of the town hall,” Colleen explained.

“Oh.”

“We can take you guys there if you want!”

“That’d be neat,” David stated. “What books do you two like?”

“Harry Potter is probably my favorite!”

“Only probably?” Christina laughed, “Hon I’m pretty sure that’s an understatement.”

“Don’t you ‘Hon’ me,” she quirked. “What books do you guys read?”

“I like sci-fi,” Sam said, “and mystery.”

“Historical nonfiction,” said Jennifer.

“Horror,” said David.

“Horror,” Jake agreed, nodding, “Some contemporary romance.”

“Sap,” David muttered. Jake elbowed him in the side.

“Nice.” Christina said. “I just kind of read whatever.”

“So do you like, only read Harry Potter?” Sam asked Colleen jokingly.

“She reads comics because she’s a nerd who sold her soul to DC when she was like, ten,” Christina answered before her sister, now glaring at her, could even open her mouth.

“To be honest I’m gonna have to ask for a reimbursement with everything they’ve done to my kids at this point,” she sighed.

“What?” Sam asked, confused.

“Tim Drake deserves better,” she whispered aggressively.

“Who’s Tim drake?

“Third Robin, grew up next to Wayne Manor and figured out Bruce was Batman back when they Fucking Wrote Him Well-”

“-Wait what do you mean ‘third Robin’?” Jennifer asked. 

“Oh no,” Jake heard Cristina whisper.

“There’s been six overall I think, depending on the writer and universe,” Colleen started.

“Six?! I thought there was only one!”

“Oh no,” Christina said again, a bit louder. Colleen took a deep breath. Jake began to prepare himself.

“Well the first one was Dick Grayson who was an acrobat with his parents at Haly’s circus, they were killed during their act because the line broke because of sabotage by extortionists that Haly refused to pay, he was nine and a lot happened and he tried to get revenge and ended up working to catch the ring leader Zuco with Batman after Bruce adopted him as his ward and stuff, Bruce just let him keep being Robin after that because Dick wanted to help. The Dick became Nightwing, and Jason Todd became Robin because Bruce thought it would do him some good after he lived on the streets and jacked the tires off the batmobile to sell but later he gets killed by the Joker and a while later Tim becomes Robin because Batman needs a partner for his own sake and I think after him a girl named Stephanie is Robin for a bit, she’s also Spoiler and Batgirl, and later Damian who’s Bruce’s son like actual kid not adopted son becomes Robin. A girl named Carrie also became Robin at some point during Frank Miller’s time writing him but I don’t really like his characterization of Bruce so I’ve only read  _ about  _ her.”

“Wow you kept your explanation short this time,” Christina teased.

“You certainly know a lot about comics,” David commented. 

“Well, I know a lot about the characters I  _ like _ ,” Colleen stated.

“You know too much,” Christina whispered.

“Shut your fuck.”

“I will not shut my fuck, my fuck will in fact be as open as it damn pleases.”

“Do you want to fight?”

“Hell yeah, throw down in the cemetery at noon bitch catch these hands.”

“I will not ‘catch these hands’ what is this some kind of trust fall exercise?”

“Catch this fucking garden trowel,” Christina yelled, taking what was assumably a garden trowel out of her back pocket previously covered by her shirt, and flinging it at her sister. Colleen screamed and caught it. The two stared at the trowel and then at each other and then burst out laughing.

“Wild,” Sam commented. By then they had passed the church

“And you called us a fucking sitcom,” Jennifer remarked.

“I am not a sitcom I am a well of mostly useless information,” Colleen stated.

“Everyone’s a well of mostly useless information ‘leen,” Christina replied.

“Yeah, just look at our little brother,” Jake said, elbowing David.

“Yeah? Well I’m going to be a director some day and then you’ll see! You’ll all see!” David rebuked.

“Is this his villain origin story?” Colleen whispered to Sam. Sam snorted.

“Probably.”

They walked around town a while, the girls talking about the local businesses, who ran what, who from school lived in the houses they walked passed, stories their mom and her parents had told them of stuff that had happened in the past, all kinds of things. Eventually they walked back to the house, where Jake and David split off to play with the dogs in the yard, Christina took Jennifer around to meet the bees, and Sam followed Colleen through the wooded area beside the house and along the road. A small creek ran through, a little branch of the pond a short ways away. There was a wooden bridge across the water, leading to a clearing past the underbrush and trees. 

“This is where Chris and I played when we were little,” Colleen told him. 

“Terabithia, neat.” He glanced up to see the most betrayed look on her face.

“Why must you remind me of that?”

“I don’t know?”

“I had to read that for a book report in 5th grade and I’ve never been the same.” She looked like she was tearing up. Sam didn't know what to do. Luckily for both of them their phones buzzed at nearly the same times, Sam with the sibling chat and Colleen with her sister.

Sam opened the text from Jennifer. It was a blurred picture of some bees on a hive.

_ ACCORDING TO ALL KNOWN LAWS OF AVIATION _

_ JENNIFER I WILL FUCKING TAKE YOU OUT  _ Jake replied.

_ B L O C K E D _ David sent.

_ THERE IS NO WAY A BEE SHOULD BE ABLE TO FLY  _  Jennifer continued, to the dismay of her siblings.

_ im disowning u _ Sam texted.  _ jennifer who? _

Colleen looked at what Christina sent her.

**I’m going to commit murder**

**alright.**

**You aren’t even going to ask me why? Or who im killing?**

**I’ll find out when we hide the body**

**Holy fuck**

**We can probably bury parts in different places in the woods?**

**Colleen what the fuck**

**Like deep though, ground wise, or else rain season will wash something up**

**Colleen What The Fuck**

**Ride or Die bitch get with the program**

**I appreciate it, but  c o l l e e n.  W h a t. T h e. F u c k**

**A l l. T h e. F u c k**

**Leen no**

**Leen yes**

**Oh my god.**

“So what's up on your end?” Sam asked.

“Christina wants to kill someone?”

“Is it my sister because at the moment I would like the second that statement.”

“I don't know, what did she do?” Sam showed her the group chat. “Mmyeah probably.”

“Gotta love memes.”

“The glue of our generation in these troubling times,” Colleen agreed.

“Memes may be the glue of our generation but they’re tearing my family apart.”

“The bee movie is a chaotic evil meme, ‘tis it’s purpose.”

“You’re a chaotic evil meme.”

“Bitch I am chaotic neutral at Worst fight me.”

“I don’t deserve this.”

“Fight Me.”

“I came out here so our car could get fixed and honestly I’m feeling so attacked right now.”

“Weak.” Something jumped onto Coleen’s shoulder from a tree. Aside from widening her eyes and muttering a curse, she gave no reaction, which was embarrassing for Sam because he screamed. It was a cat. A sleek black cat, with a green collar that had a little tear in the middle. Sam winced as he watched it dig its claws into Colleen’s bare shoulder to sure its footing. “Why are you like this,” she exclaimed in a hushed voice.

“Is, uh, is that one of your cats?”

“Yeah. This one’s Moth. He’s a percher.”

“I see.” The cat turn around a couple times, shoulder to shoulder, before laying down draped around her neck like a black purring shawl. She looked over and scratched his forehead. 

“Little dumbass lost his bell again huh?” she said in a light and airy voice, as pet owners do. Sam chuckled. It was cute. Colleen was cute. Fuck. He looked down at his phone again.

_ Guys im having a Crisis _ he wrote

_ What kind of crisis _ David replied

_ What is it this time _ Jake sent.

_ Colleen’s really cute; and pretty and shit kill me _

_ She’s probably gay dude _ Jennifer commented. 

_ How would you knwo? _ Jake asked.

_ Knwo _ David repeated.

_ Knwo  _ Jennifer added.

_ Knwo  _ David sent again.

By then Sam and Colleen were walking back towards the house again.

_ Knwo  _ Sam contributed.

_ Guys stop _ Jake said.

_ Knwo  _ David sent.

_ KNWO _ Sam put in.

_ K n w o _ Jennifer added.

_ Guys  _ Jake pleaded. But his siblings knew no mercy.

_ KnWo  _ Sam sent.

_ I don’t deserve this _

_ ….k....n….w….o…. _ Jennifer sent, one last time.

_ That’s it im blocking all of you. _

_ Oh shit punctuation _ Sam joked.

_ Anyway she’s got short dyed hair, plaid and a fucking beanie dude she’s gay. _

_ Maybe she’s just punk you don’t know her _ David said.

_ Hold on _ Jennifer sent.

_ What _

_ What _

_ What  _ all of her brothers expressed individually.

_ Jen what are you doing _ Sam asked.  _ Jen plz _

_ Nvm guys she’s bi ur in luck dude _

_ WHAT _ Sam screeched over the chat.

_ I asked Christina _

_ W H A T _

_ JENNIFER DARLA HOLT  _ Jake scolded.

_ OH MY GOD JENFIER YOU CAN’T JUST GO AROUND ASKING PEOPLE IF THEIR SISTER IS GAY  _ David sent.

_ Did u just call me fucking jenfier???? Do i look like a LOTR character to you????? _

_ Ur a viking Jenfier _ Jake sent with a snicker.

_ Stfu u dick _

_ I am deceased _ Sam sent.

_ I call ur allowance _ Jennifer remarked.

_ I’d call ur room since it’s bigger than mine but idk if I really want to sleep in the attic. _ David sent.

_ Thanks kid. Jake? You need anything written into my will for you? _

_ Ur will to live? _

_ Sorry that well’s been depleted.  _

_ Damn it. _

_ Sorry man :/ _

“You good back there?” Colleen asked. “You’re falling behind a little and I’m the one with the cat on her shoulders.”

“I’m dead.”

“Same.”

Sam chuckled. Colleen started giggling too. Eventually it devolved into the two of them just walking in the woods, laughing. Moth meowed at Colleen because she was moving so much.

“Oh hush you,” she scolded.

“Don’t scold the kitty!”

“Listen here, this Moth is a little shit who deserved every scolding he gets!” Moth chattered at her, seemingly to defend himself. Colleen imitated him in another scolding matter. Moth looked taken aback, and looked at Sam, seemingly for support.

“Sorry, I can’t help you here bud.” Moth let out another noise, somewhere along the lines of ‘mrrp’. “What’s your other cat's name anyway? Didn’t you say you had two?”

“Craig.”

“...What?”

“Craig. His name’s Craig.”

“So. Your cats' names... are… Moth, and Craig?”

“Yep.”

“Alright then.” They walked a while longer, and Sam got the feeling that Colleen was taking the long way back to her house, because it definitely had not taken this long to get to the creek from their driveway. “Why moth and Craig?”

“I don’t know man that’s what happens when you let your kids name your pets.”

“Wild.”

“Yep.”

“How did you get them?”

“Stray got pregnant, decided our barn was the best place to have them. Kept Moth and Craig, the other three went to a shelter a few towns away once they were old enough and fixed.”

“Huh.”

“You have any pets?”

“Yeah, we have a pitbull we found a few years ago. She wasn't chipped and no one claimed her so she's ours now. We named her Paulina for the street she was on.”

“Neat.” Sam pulled up a picture of her on his phone to show Colleen. Paulina was cute, with a light blue collar and a dark brindled coat. She grinned at the camera as she laid on Jake's stomach. He's sleeping on the couch. “She's so pretty!” Colleen cooed. “What a beautiful baby girl!” Sam grinned before looking up to pay attention to where exactly they were going again. He saw an old run down barn in the distance through the trees.

“What's up with that?” he asked, gesturing with his hand.

“That,” Colleen said with a mischievous smile, “Is where all us teenagers hang out when we're bored to get drunk.”

“Oh,” he replied, raising his eyebrows. “Your parents… don't care?” Colleen shrugged.

“Well we aren't exactly far from home, and even drunk teenagers know better than to hang around the woods after dark, so not really. Unless we're really fucking hammered and can't do anything the next morning but get sick they don't really care, but Chris and I know are limits so that doesn't happen anymore.”

“Damn. My parents would probably kill me,” Sam laughed.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I'd die from their disappointment and lectures about responsibility.” Colleen laughed.

“Okay well  _ that _ I get. I mean my parents don't really give a shit but they’d definitely be disappointed if I like. Did heroin or something. Or started drinking  _ increasingly often, _ that'd really scare them. Chris and I’ve never really done anything to warrant much concern to be honest so they've never really had to crack down on us before. Not sure what would make them.”

“Well, drug addiction.”

“Well yeah, probably smoking too but we know better than that also so,” she shrugged, opening the door to the barn, which had turned grey with age. A couple old tables and chairs were scattered around, an old cable spool had a worn deck of cards on it, and someone had started stringing beer cans and bottles up like windchimes from one of the beams holding up the hayloft, but the air was still and warm in there. They didn't make a sound.

“Why don't you guys go into the forest at night?” Sam asked, breaking the silence as he recalled something she had said so passively earlier.

“You just don't.” He frowned at her. “You guys joked about us being superstitious earlier and we said we aren't, but there's still some shit you just  _ don't do _ unless you want trouble.”

“Like what?”

“You don't go into the fields or the forest at night, don't look out the windows when you hear something strange, and always put something in the passenger seat of the car if you're riding alone, the bench seats too if you can. It's like an invitation.”

“What the fuck.” She just shrugged.

“Strange things happen man. As long as you pretend you didn't see it, nothing will bother you.”

“Is this some kind of fairy shit?”

“Don't know, probably best not to talk about it,” she said patting him on the shoulder as she turned to walk out the door. “Let's head back.”

When they got back to the house Sam waved hi to his parents, who were talking to Delilah and her mom in the kitchen, and went upstairs to Colleen's room after she grabbed the sewing kit from the closet in the hallway. She closed the door so Moth couldn't get away and took off his collar, grabbing a glass jar filled with little bells off of her bookshelf. Sam looked around while she sewed a new bell to her cats collar. It was cozy. The furniture was old, like everything else in the house seemed to be, and it clashed interestingly with the posters on the wall around her bed, which sat in the corner. Some band posters, The Clash, Green Day, Marina and the Diamonds, Halsey. Above her headboard was a poster with the crest of Slytherin, flanked by Batman and something of a guy in a red helmet with an archer and a green eyed (like completely solid, glowing green eyed) woman with purple light shooting out of her hands titled Red Hood and the Outlaws. He wasn't exactly sure who  _ they _ were, but at least he knew the three on the Gotham City Sirens poster, and recognized Haly’s Circus and the name Grayson from her explanation of Batman's many Robins earlier.

“You uh, sure do like your Batman characters.” She looked up, and then looked at the posters. Her face was tinged pink with embarrassment when he looked back down at her sewing.

“Yeah, I uh, I do.”

He panicked, not wanting her to be embarrassed because of him.

“Who’re the ones in that one?” He asked, pointing at the one with the characters he hadn't known above her bed, between the circus poster and the house poster. 

“That's Jason Todd who's Red Hood, Roy Harper who's Arsenal above him, and Koriand’r who's Starfire, she's an alien from Tamaran.”

“I thought you said Jason Todd was killed by the Joker though.”

“Oh he did, that part never changes,” Colleen laughed, a pained expression on her face. “But that's a whole lot of shenanigans that happen whole different ways depending on what canon you’re reading and that's an infodump for another day my friend.”

“Oh.”

Colleen stood up from her desk, opposite her bed and next to the dresser, and scooped Moth out of her bottom bookshelf to put the collar back on now that it was fixed. Moth ‘mrred’ and scampered out of the room when she opened the door, jangling all the way, probably off to find another way to get rid of this new bell as he had with the old one. Colleen left the door open and flopped down on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

“When do you think your Dad will be done fixing the engine?” he asked, sitting down in the desk chair.

“Dunno, probably before dinner, y'all'll wanna set a room at the inn, your parents have probably called Cassidy by now. I wouldn't worry about it.”

“Alright.”

Just then Christina came thundering up the stairs.

“Ooo, ‘Leena had a  _ boy _ in her room,” she teased.

“Chris it's  _ not _ like that and you know it!” Colleen squeaked, both her and Sam turning beet red. Christina just winked at him knowingly, damn Jennifer, and went on to do what she had come up there for.

“We're havin’ the Holts up for dinner and then Dad’s gonna drive them to Cassidy’s, two of you will have to sit in the back of the truck but he won't go over 20 so don't worry, it's fun, and then Mrs. Holt will call us in the morning when all y’all’re ready so we can bring you back to your car.”

“Sounds like a plan!” Colleen said, clapping her hands together and sitting up.

“Wait what do you mean sit in the back of the truck?” Sam asked.

“The bed, where tools and stuff go. It's perfectly legal, and he’ll make sure there's nothing else back there, you’ll be fine,” Christina said.

“He’ll make sure to miss the potholes,” Colleen added.

“Anyway Ma’ said to get your butt down to the kitchen and help make dinner, Papa's bringing meat up from the freezer and someone has to chop the vegetables.”

Colleen groaned as Christina ran back downstairs.

“You know, she says vegetables plural, but I'm pretty sure she just means potatoes.”

The two of them laughed.

 

The next morning the Holts were back around nine, because getting four teenagers out of bed and looking human any earlier than lunch was truly a feat of parenting, and Sam had made them all stay late by watching the stars with Colleen (something his siblings would tease him for for the rest of his life on Earth, and proceed to refer to as their 'first date’ come the end of senior year, much to his dismay).

The kids didn't have that much time to say goodbye between their parents not taking long to work out the billing and the girls still having chores to do, so they were sent off with hugs and waves and some joking suggestions to have the car break down again next time they were in the area.

Sam fished out the scrap of paper shoved in his back pocket as his dad pulled back onto the freeway. In neat cursive was Colleen's name and number.

_ Tell me how the trip goes? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S THE FUCK HERE GUYS ft. the longest chapter I've ever written in anything I'm not even joking. It was slow writing because there's so much to set up and so many people to characterize at once while trying to make their relationships flow naturally so in procrastination the first three chapters of the last part of this will be out toot sweet once this is over lol. The town Colleen is from is based around a mish mosh of me using my imaginations and referencing New Haven and Cynthiana Indiana via google maps and Wikipedia. I'm with the Holts on this one, I'm a city girl. Any inaccuracies to rural/small town life are because of yours truly.


	2. What About The Future?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Colleen's having a hard time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is too short to be coming so late I'm sorry guys

Sam’s phone buzzed on his bed next to him. It was a message from Colleen.

_ I fuckiing hate everything _

_ Woah there _

_ Im dropping out i don’t fucking CARE AY MORE IM DONE _

_ Dude _

_ WHAT _

_ You can’t drop out of school Leen what will you do for college? _

_ BITCH MY HIGHEST GRADE RIGHT NOW IS A C- NO FUCKING COLLEGE IS GOING TO  W A  N T   ME  _

_ How the hell do you have a c-??? Aare you just not doing anything??? _

_ IM DOING  E V E R Y T H I N G S A M _

_ Oh boy _

_ What are you failing? _

_ EVERYTHING SAM _

_ You cna’t possibly be failing everything _

_ BITCH TRY ME _

_ Do you want to take this to video or stay on chat? _

_ Idc dude i dn’t have a single care atp idk _

_ Hooooooooooooooooooooboi im calling you _

Sam rolled off his bed and went to the little desk shoved in the opposite corner by the window. Outside all the trees except the crimson maples had lost their leaves. They would probably be covered in snow before there were enough on the ground to rake.

He flipped open his laptop and clicked on Skype, waiting for Colleen to be online. Her face popped up in the window, black bordering red rimmed eyes.

“Hey, at least your makeup looks fine,” he joked, trying to lighten the mood.

“If my makeup can’t survive my despair there’s no point to it,” she growled, wiping at her nose. Sam tried not to crack a smile at that, since she wasn’t saying it to be funny.

“So what exactly is going on here?” he asked, leaning his head on his hand.

“I fucking. Hate school.” She dug the heels of her hands into her eyes.

“Figured that one out a while ago buddy.”

“There's too many things and I can't do any of them.”

“Why not?”

“BECAUSE THEY ALL TAKE SO LONG AND BY THE TIME I DO ONE THING I’M TOO EXHAUSTED TO DO ANOTHER THING SO WHAT'S THE POINT IN DOING ANY OF THEM!!!” she exclaimed, gesturing near wildly, at some point hitting her knee on the bottom of her desk based on how the camera shook for a moment.

“Just do them one day at a time-”

“- WELL YEAH I DO THE LOW ENERGY ONES BUT THAT'S NOT A RATE THAT LETS ME CATCH UP TO ANYTHING!”

“What about your classwork is your classwork okay?”

“Barely! In English and history it's mostly fine but like. Math and chem and Spanish it's Not Okay I mean grade wise it's fine but I pretty much have to copy everyone else to get anything done on time so everyone probably hates me and thinks I'm a slacker-”

“-wait why do you have to copy?”

“Because it takes me so long to do shit that I'm done with one and they're all half finished with the fucking worksheet by then! I can do it sometimes, like in math and chem, it's just hard!”

“What about Spanish?”

“Spanish can fucking kill me and that would be more merciful than this.”

“Yikes.”

“Seems a bit worse than a ‘Yikes’ from my end but you do you pal.”

“How do you study?”

“I have neither the energy nor the time to fucking study dude.”

“Okay but if you did how would you do it?”

“Dunno. Didn’t have to in grade school. I’d probably just reread the material.”

“Do you take notes?”

“Yeah but they don’t make sense and it’s hard to understand class when I’m trying to Also take notes, you know?”

“No, I don’t.”

“And like,” she continued, despite Sam not really understanding, “how do I know what’s going to be important? Sometimes I write shit down that the teacher says that isn’t even important and then left out something that was. May as well not take notes at all.” Her head hit her desk with a thud. “I just suck at school man.”

Sam was starting to think this was a bit more than Colleen just sucking at school.

“I can tutor you,” he said, instead of voicing the possibly off speculation he was having.

“No,” she groaned, rolling her head to the side, “You have your own shit to do.”

“Well, yeah, but me helping you study will also be like me studying so. It’s not like I’m wasting my time helping you.” he hoped that came out more reassuring than it sounded.

“But I don't like needing help.”

“You're graduating high school if I have to drag you through it by your leg.”

“Jinkies.” She paused. “My leg? My one leg? Last time I checked I had two.” Sam ignored that.

“Why aren't you getting help from your teachers if you don't get something then?”

“Not everyone can go to a nice private school where teachers actually give a fuck about your education Holt. They're all shit. The only one that's not shit is my history teacher and that's why I'm not actively failing her class.”

“Well. At least you have  _ something _ going for you.”

“Ain't much of a 'something’.” Sam heard the door in Colleen’s room open and saw something large fly at her. 

“GET OUT AND RAKE WITH ME BITCH,” someone, probably Christina, yelled out of view of the camera. The older sister had thrown a rake.

“Gotta go,” Colleen muttered while Sam was laughing, and closed her computer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought there would be more to this chapter but I decided to just end it and get it published and over with. This fic will probably be pretty slow writing because the only ideas I have that are really solidified are for the next one so. Plus side is that by next year when the next one is out and this is finished (at this rate it will be this time next year lmao :/) the first five chapters will probably come out all at once?? or quick at least. idk. School's almost out. Finals are tomorrow and the day after hoping i don't fail chem and math


End file.
